Local producers from around the Făgăraș Mountains now have the opportunity to reach further consumers through The Fruits of the Mountains Food Hub – selected products harvested from the Făgăraș Mountains, a project powered by Foundation Conservation Carpathia.
Foundation Conservation Carpathia launched The Fruits of the Făgăraș Mountains – selected products harvested from the mountains, a local food enterprise collecting and distributing (Food Hub) traditional products from the Făgăraș Mountains area, to customers interested in consuming fresh healthy foods.
The new project is part of a larger programme which aims to support and promote local producers from the Făgăraș Mountains, who farm responsibly and respect nature, who are certified and who care about ingredients and recipes. The Food Hub helps small farms grow by offering a combination of production, distribution, and marketing services, by connecting them with additional markets, and supporting the development of the local food networks.
Currently, The Fruits of the Făgăraș Mountains Food Hub collects products from the Southern part of the Făgăraș Mountains and ensures distribution for Brașov, Bucharest and Pitești. The program will be developed in the future, both in terms of aggregation and distribution.
“We put the fruits of the Făgăraș Mountains on the table of all those who want to consume fresh healthy food, produced in small quantities, from the villages around the Făgăraș Mountains. All ingredients are natural (fresh or processed), come from local producers in Argeș County and neighbouring counties. They are harvested or cultivated, produced and distributed responsibly, with care for the soil, climate and biodiversity,” says Istvan Szabo, Conservation Enterprise Manager at Carpathia.
How does it work?
Customers can order baskets of local products from the Făgăraș Mountains: mushrooms, wild strawberry jam, blueberries and blackberries in sugar-free syrups, cheeses, honey, juices and compotes, locally produced in various healthy combinations. The orders are placed online, on the Facebook page of the food hub (https://www.facebook.com/RoadeleMuntilorFagaras/), and the baskets are delivered to the door. The access for the products in the food hub is based on clear principles, so that fruits and mushrooms are harvested or grown responsibly, the meat comes from local breeds, the cheese is produced in units that respect animal welfare, the working conditions and the payments are fair.
Partnership for nature and prosperity
The Fruits of the Făgăraș Mountains Food Hub is a partnership for nature and prosperity for the rural areas, created by Carpathia to support local communities in the Făgăraș Mountains. The new programme supports and promotes a healthy system of production and consumption of products coming from the Făgăraș Mountains, by forming new green entrepreneurial networks.
“Our initiative is not only about setting up a food hub, but also building the ability of local producers to satisfy consumer requirements and markets, by offering training and support for promotion and marketing, updating recipes, so that they receive a fair price for their products and continue to grow. We are laying the foundations of a new green business model, a business that is based on nature, but without exhausting the natural resources generously offered by the Făgăraș Mountains,” added Istvan Szabo, Conservation Enterprise manager at Carpathia.
About the LIFE Carpathia project
The Conservation Enterprise Program is developed within the project LIFE18 NAT/RO/001082 – “Creation of a Wilderness Reserve in the Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania” and has as its main objective the development of a conservation-based economy, combining the local economy, development and job creation with long-term nature conservation objectives in the Făgăraș Mountains.
Financial support from: The European Commission through the LIFE Nature programme (www.ec.europa.eu) and the Arcadia Foundation through the ELP program (Endangered Landscapes Programme, www.endangeredlandscapes.org).
The content of this material does not necessarily represent the official position of the European Union.
